Football, basket ball, and the like



Feb'. 21, 1933. M, scuDDER 1,898,600

FOOTBALL, BASKET BALL, AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 5, 1930 /N VEA/Toe. M45 o/v 5c ung/Se.

Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATE Nr OFFICE] .MASON SOUDDEB, or CLAYTON, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOB 'ro kRAWILINsrs MANFAOTURING COMPANY, on ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, CORPORATION for MISSOURI *FOOTBALL BASKET BALL, AND THEIQIKE Appncatinme'd February 5, 1930; Serial Nb. manso.-

This. invention relatesV to. footballs, basket balls and similar balls of the kind thatconsist of an outer casing that surrounds an inflated bladder, and particularly balls of the type i in which the bladder can be inflated without disturbing the lacing of the slit=in the casing through which the bladder is inserted.

In various makes of balls of the general.

type mentioned that are now on the market the intlating valve is permanently connected to or combined with the bladder so as-toform a complete unit which can, be inserted in or withdrawn from the casing, and the casing is equipped with a nut or other internally Screwthreaded part that is adapted to 'co-operate with external screw threads on the metallic Ystem of lthe inflating valve so as to join the bladder to the casing and h old said Vparts in such relationship that the bladder willnot vshift bodilyV relatively to the casing, and they intlating valve on the bladder will not move into such a position that it cannot be coupled with an initiating pump4 in the eventV the bladder, becomes delated t The object of my invention is to provide a football, basket ball or the like that can be iniiated. without rdisturbing thev lacing of vthe casing, but which is ofsuch design that no screw-threaded parts .are required to connect the` bladder ,with the casing and maintain the bladder and casing in such relationship that the inflating Vvalve isalways acceswhich is distinguished from the balls of this general type that arenow in commercialuse, inV that the initiating valve is permanently mounted on 0r combined with the casing,

.and the bladder is so constructed that it can beeasily Stripped o of the metallic stem of the iniating valveI in the event it becomes necessary to repair or replace the bladder.V

Figure l of the drawing is a fragmentary i sectional view of a ball vconstructed in accordancewith my present invention.

Figure 2 isa side elevational view of the tubular portion on the bladder that vis y adapted to receive the metallic stem of the iniiating valve; and Y t l Y Figure 3 is a top plan view of the ball, Showing the `lacing that closes the slit .in the lcasing when said bladder is deiated. Norcasing through which the bladder is in- Sertech and vthe/holeinthe lcasing that providesaccess to the inatin'g'valve. In the accjompanyin'gdrawing,which.rep-V resentsthe vpreferred form of my invention, Aedesignates the outer casing of alifrootball, basket ball or similar ball, and'B designates a bladder that is arranged inside of said casing, the casing `Arusually being constructed ofl leather' andV the bladder B beingconstructed of rubber. j The casing A is provided .with a slit or lopening whichfis of such dimensions thatthe bladder B can be f easily introduced into or withdrawnfrom the mally, the slit 1 is closed by a lacing or other suitable device 2, shown in Figure A3, which prevents the opposed edges of said slit from separating when't-he bladder is iniated; l The ball is provided with aninliating valve, which is of such construction thatthe nipple or nozzle` on the hose ofan inflating 'pumpncanbe easilyl connected with same when it.. isdesired to pump air into the bladder B-to inflate .the same'. Said inlating valve is ofa type that .is now inj common use jand 1consists ofa tubularmetallic member C, commonly `referred to as the stem, inside-of which is arranged a springseatedvalve thatvvill open automatically when subjected to the pressure of an' iniowing stream of airA that is Y vbeing forced through the'stem C by an insible. To this end I have devised a ball ating pump, and which willseat automatically wheny said ,pressure` ceases. The valvevstem C isprovided'at its outer end with internal Screw threads that are adapted end of the's'tem' C lso as toprotect' theva'lve 3 from kdirt or other foreign matter. 'Dhe i casing A is provided witha hole 5 through whichl the ,coupling Vdevice offthe inlating pump is adapted to be inserted in the operation of connecting the pump with therllflatl ing valve. The said hole inay be arranged at one side of the slit l in the casing, as shown in Figure ,3, or it may be arranged "at any other suitable point or preferred point in the casing.

j In my improved ball the valve stem C, which is arranged on the inside of the casing A, as shown in Figure l, is permanently connected to or combined with said casing, so that it forms in effect a fixture or integral portion of the casing. Various means may be employed to attach or secure the valve stem to the casing, but I prefer to provide the valve stem Coat its outer end with aflange or enlarged portion 6 that is -imbedded in a disk-V y7, that pass through the casing and through the attaching member D, as shown in Figure 1. If desired, a reinforcing member 8,

tformed of leather or other suitable material,

can be arranged on `the innerside or underside of the member D, and held-'in position by the stitches 7 thatV secure thel member D to thecasing. y i

The Ybladder B is provided with anv inwardly-'projecting tubular portion E, which is of such design or constructionI that it willnormally surround the valve stem'C and grip the same tightly enough to produce an air-tight' joint between the bladder B and valve stem C, but will be capable of'being strippedoif the valve stem in the event it becomes necessary to repair-or replace the bladder. Usually, the inwardly-projecting portion E of the `bladder will be provided with'one or more constriction bands 9 that reinforce and strengthen the tubular portion E and tend to cause said tubular portion to snugly surround the valveY stem C. If delsired, the valve stem C may be provided with an annular rib 10 arranged so that when the bladder B is in its normal position, said rib l() will be Apositioned between two constriction bands 9 on the tubular portion E of the bladder, thereby effectively maintaining the bladder in positionv and preventing it from dropping off the valve stem C in the event the bladder becomes deflated. Obviously,the airthat is yforced intothe bladder to inflate the same is exerted on the tubular portion E l of the bladder in adirection to hold said portion inl suliciently snug engagement with the valve stem C to produce an air-tight oint between said parts. In order to reducev the tendency of the tubular'portion E to tear away from the bladder at the point.where it is attached to the bladder. the tubular portion E isflared, thickened, or enlarged at the point where it merges into the bladder so as to form in effect a gusset between the bladder and the inwardly-projecting tubular portion E on the bladder- A ball of the construction above described is inexpensive to manufacture; it has no hard spot on same, due to the fact that the valve stem C is permanently connected to the casing by a resilient attaching member D that encases the flange 6 at the upper end of the valve stem'which constitutes the connection betweenl the-stem and the attaching member D; and notwithstanding the fact that the inflating valve is permanently combined with or connected to the casing ofthe ball, the bladder ofthe ball can be easily repaired or replaced simply by removing the lacing 2, so as to afford access tothe bladder and then stripping the bladder off the stem C of the inflating valve. A new bladder or repaired bladder can be l easily combined with the casing by forcing the tubular portion E of the bladder upwardly over 'the stem C of the inflating valve, andafte'r the bladder has been inflated, the internal pressure vof the bladder will maintain a tight joint between the'bladder and the valve stem. Having thus described my invention,

what I claim as new and'desired to secure'by Letters Patent is:

1. A ball of the kind described, comprising a bladder, a `casing for said bladder provided with an .opening lthrough which the bladder can be introduced into the casing, the casing having a hole separate and distinct from said opening, an inflating valve provided with a stem that is arranged on the interior of the casing in alignment with said hole, an attachingmember vulcanized onto a part on said stem, means for permanently cbnnecting' said attaching member to the casing, and an inwardly-projecting tubular` portion lon the bladder surrounding said stem and provided with a constriction band 'thattends to cause said tubular portion to Vtightly surround said stem.'

2. iA ball of the kind described, comprising a bladder, acasing for said bladderprovided with an opening through which the vbladder can be introduced into thecasing,

an inflating valve arranged on the interior Y ofthe vcasing and provided with a'tubular metallic stern whose upper end is internally threaded, the casing having a hole arranged j in alignment with said stem, a laterallyprojecting flange on said stem, an attaching member-vulcanized onto said iiange, a reinforcing member positioned under said attaching member, stitches that pass through said reinforcing member, attaching member and casing so as to permanently connect the valve stem to the casing, aninwardly-projeeting tubular portion on the bladder reinforced at the point where it is joined to the bladder, said tubular portion receiving the valve stem and being adapted to be stripped off of said stem in the event removal of the bladder from the casing becomes necessary, a rib on the exterior of said valve stem, and constriction bands on the tubular portion of the bladder arranged at points above and below the rib on the valve stem.

MASON SCUDDER.` l0 

